A Companion to Mediterranean History

A Companion to Mediterranean History presents a wide-ranging overview of this vibrant field of historical research, drawing together scholars from a range of disciplines to discuss the development of the region from Neolithic times to the present.

• Provides a valuable introduction to current debates on Mediterranean history and helps define the field for a new generation
• Covers developments in the Mediterranean world from Neolithic times to the modern era
• Enables fruitful dialogue among a wide range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, art, literature, and anthropology

List of Figures viii

Notes on Contributors ix

Acknowledgements xiv

Introduction 1
Peregrine Horden

Part I Climate and Vegetation 9

1 The Mediterranean Climate 11
Fredric Cheyette

2 The Vegetative Mediterranean 26
Paolo Squatriti

Part II Turning Points and Phases 43

3 Mediterranean "Prehistory" 45
Cyprian Broodbank

4 The Ancient Mediterranean 59
Nicholas Purcell

5 The Medieval Mediterranean 77
Dominique Valérian

6 The Early Modern Mediterranean 91
Molly Greene

7 Mediterranean Modernity? 107
Naor Ben-Yehoyada

8 Po-Mo Med 122
Michael Herzfeld

Part III Politics and Power 137

9 Thalassocracies 139
David Abulafia

10 Nautical Technology 154
Ruthy Gertwagen

11 Piracy 170
Clifford R. Backman

12 Cartography 184
Emilie Savage-Smith

Part IV Settlement and Society 201

13 Settlement Patterns 203
John Bintliff

14 Cave Dwelling 219
Valerie Ramseyer

15 Family and Household 234
Paola Sacchi and Pier Paolo Viazzo

16 Disease 250
Robert Sallares

17 Forms of Slavery 263
Youval Rotman

Part V Language and Culture 279

18 Material Culture 281
Tehmina Goskar

19 Visual Culture 296
Cecily J. Hilsdale

20 Mediterranean Literature 314
Sharon Kinoshita

21 Lingua Franca 330
Karla Mallette

22 Hybridity 345
Steven A. Epstein

Part VI Religions in Conflict and Co-existence 359

23 Ethno-Religious Minorities 361
Brian A. Catlos

24 Shared Sacred Places 378
Maria Couroucli

25 Jews 392
Fred Astren

Part VII the Mediterranean and a Wider World 409

26 The Mediterranean and the Atlantic 411
Teofilo F. Ruiz

27 The Mediterranean and Africa 425
Ray A. Kea

28 The Mediterranean and Asia 441
Nicholas Doumanis

29 The Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean 457
Elizabeth Ann Pollard

Index 475

“This central issue, whether the Mediterranean exists as a useful analytical category or is just a misleading, romanticized construct that has been self-actualized by the inhabitants, underpins this excellent companion.” (H-War, March 2015)

“It will surely hold the attention of both specialist researcher and general student alike.” (Reference Reviews, 1 December 2014

Sharon Kinoshita is Professor of Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is Co-Director of the UCSC Center for Mediterranean Studies, and Co-Director of the UC Multicampus Research Project in Mediterranean Studies. Her publications include Medieval Boundaries: Rethinking Difference in Old French Literature (2006).

Peregrine Horden is Professor of Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is co-author, with Nicholas Purcell, of The Corrupting Sea (2000), and author of Hospitals and Healing from Antiquity to the Later Middle Ages (2008).

A Companion to Mediterranean History presents the first authoritative overview of this diverse and vibrant field of historical research. Featuring contributions from leading experts in various strands of Mediterranean research - including history, anthropology, archaeology and art history - essays cover developments in the region from Neolithic times to the modern era.

Mediterranean history has never been more widely debated or practised, yet there remains no consensus about precisely how this history should be written, the definition of its parameters, or the breadth of topics it should include. In summarising the latest scholarship and reappraising key concepts, contributors to this volume enable fruitful interdisciplinary dialogue on subjects ranging from climate and cartography to material culture and heritage politics. A Companion to Mediterranean History represents an invaluable guide to the current state of Mediterranean scholarship that will also help to redefine the field for a new generation.